According to a news article I found online, a man by this same name was one of three people represented in a lawsuit back in 2001 (I believe) in Chicago; the lawyer was suing the city for arresting peaceful panhandlers. The city tried to argue that the panhandlers had accosted people but had to back down when they didn't have evidence and nobody claimed they'd done anything more than this man does in the video; for the indignity of being arrested each of the homeless panhandlers got $500 from the city.
Also, though this video was made a year ago it has just gone viral, and users of the Reddit site have gone on a mission to find this guy and take care of him (job offer, etc.). That is *also* what Jesus looks like. Though the Lord wouldn't drop so many f-bombs (be warned, but this is still pretty amazing):
I can tell you what some people who "look like Jesus" do in my hometown:
1. They forced the closure of one of the city's two public libraries because they've used the grounds as a campsite.
2. Some use the bathrooms at the other public library to wash their naked torsos or defecate on the floor. One ate a raw can of Spam in front of a computer terminal. I witnessed these things myself and reported them to library authorities.
3. One group of professional panhandlers camps out near a Starbucks downtown. Know how I can tell they're not homeless? They have smart phones and laptops, which aren't cheap.
In Los Angeles, one panhandler attacked a man who refused to give him money and burned him to death:
I know there are legitimately homeless people out there who need help and support. Many of them are mentally ill. But many "homeless" people are nothing but lazy parasites with a sense of entitlement and no sense of consideration for society around them. They effectively steal from people who have difficulty paying their bills and feeding their families.
Unfortunately, the Catholic Church (as well as "progressive" politicians, academics and media members) promotes this guilt-induced sympathy as a means to empower itself. It always has. Like its liberal, secular counterparts, the Catholic Church doesn't give a damn about the poor! It doesn't view the poor as men and women created in God's image — an image that includes at least a modicum of intelligence and talent — but as puppy dogs who can do nothing for themselves and must be cared for 24/7.
Of course, some people are in such dire straits that they need such care — especially the elderly, whom the Church conveniently fails to defend with the same "vigor" (if you can call it that) as it "defends" the unborn. But not every poor or "homeless" person does.
While society must be accountable to the poor, the poor also must be accountable to society. Of course, this notion isn't "Catholic," so it will be rejected automatically by the self-benighted "compassionate" people.
Riddle me this, Catholics. If the Catholic Church cares so much about the poor and disadvantaged, then…
1. Why do so many prelates live in monarchistic comfort?
2. Why didn't those same prelates rush to help those victimized by sex abuse instead of hide behind expensive lawyers and PR firms?
3. Why hasn't the Vatican sold some of the stocks, bonds and securities it holds to help those dioceses and archdioceses that need help keeping schools and parishes open????
Clinton, would you like to comment on "apostasy" now?
Don't get gooey about the homeless. Check out your local police blotterand you will be shocked at home much rape, assault and murder is done by guys with no fixed address.
At the end of your life you aren't going to be judged by what the Church did or didn't do with regard to the poor (which is considerable, if you wish to look). As Saint John of the Cross said, you will be judged on your love (or your lack thereof).
Wow. A video whose intent is to get us to see the humanity in the homeless, and half the initial response is to dehumanize them.
Being poor doesn't make you an angel. The poor are human beings, just as prone to sin as anyone else. But the poor suffer the consequences of a fallen world all the more acutely, so the call of Jesus is to bring them the spiritual and corporal acts of mercy all the more emphatically.
Last month a 96 year old man in my town was beaten to death by a homeless woman who hung around the area. That poor man was trying to help her. Show mercy, yes, but don't be stupid. Don't get too close and if you give money do it in broad daylight in the middle of the street.
No, Jesus doesn't look like that. Jesus looks like the Father. Jesus is what we could look like if we work hard at perfecting ourselves in cooperation with the Holy Spirit. This man looks like one of the poor, the sort of people we will always have with us, and the sort of people we do need to be charitable towards. They are part of the story, but they are not the story.
To Vox Cantoris, Romulus, Wine in the Water and Anonymous:
1. Since when is discernment an exercise in cruelty?
2. Anonymous, since when does "love" disregard a reasonable demand for social accountability?
3. Did you know that John the Baptist was homeless, technically speaking? Did he behave in the ways I stated earlier?
4. For that matter, Romulus, did Jesus?
5. For that matter, do many poor people outside of the United States? I seriously doubt that.
6. Vox Cantoris, I choose to support persecuted Christians overseas, who have a far harder time than the homeless here. Why don't YOU get off YOUR lazy butt and do something about THAT?
I am not sure why you are so angry that you have to attack people/groups or be so judgmental. How many Catholics do you know? I would have to say you are the self-righteous one here my friend.
It would appear, Joseph, that Catholics have by no means cornered the market on self-righteousness.
I don't like repeating myself but will say it again – if you can't see the Catholic Church as one of the few forces for good in helping the poor, you are willfully blind.
You appear to be very selective in the miseries that you would allow yourself to feel sympathy for, without really knowing any of these people personally. How sad. Christ didn't condone sin, but He met everyone "where they were" and made no demands for "social accountability", whatever that is. The people He reserved His greatest anger for were the Pharissees because they saw themselves as superior when in fact thay were greater sinners than those they condemned Do you notice any parallels?
I hope Christ meets you where you are. It seems an otherwise unhappy and friendless place.
You ask: since when does "love" disregard a reasonable demand for social accountability?
A fair question. You may find the answer below. I don't see the word "demand" anywhere in it. I do, however, detect in your posts many of the things that love is not.
Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Vanessa, I was baptized as a Catholic, went to a Catholic high school, participated in my university's Newman Club and worshipped as a Catholic most of my life. I would say I know a lot more about Catholics and Catholicism than you could ever surmise.
Anonymous, the same God who inspired St. Paul to write what he did is the exact same God who demands accountability for human behavior. The Jesus who refused to condemn the woman caught in adultery by a lynch mob of Pharisees also told her to "go and sin no more." The Jesus who healed a paralytic at the pool in Bethesda also told him to "stop sinning or something worse will befall" him. Aren't those implicit demands for accountability? Do you seriously believe that either the paralytic or the adulteress were rich?
Moreover, since when is it "loving" to ignore deliberately occasions when homeless people violate accepted standards of social behavior, intimidate people for money or act as if they're not accountable. If the story about a man being burned alive in his SUV because he refused to give a panhandler money doesn't move you, then your "compassion" is based on materialism, not morality.
You think I mean that all homeless behave this way. Of course, they don't. I've met all sorts of homeless people in my life, from the mentally ill to families living from paycheck to paycheck, to those who will game the system for their own benefit.
…if you can't see the Catholic Church as one of the few forces for good in helping the poor, you are willfully blind.
How has the Catholic Church helped the poor to see themselves as people created in the image of a God who gave them talent, free will, intelligence and initiative? How has it helped the poor to develop their individual talents not only to benefit society but, also, themselves? How has it, by doing so, stimulated the confidence of such poor people?
Does the Catholic Church ever teach the poor how to fish, to paraphrase a well-known proverb?
Moreover, if the Catholic Church truly loves the poor, then…
1. Why didn't Mother Teresa use the millions that she raised on her worldwide travels to build a clinic that really treat people, instead of providing mere palative care?
2. As I asked earlier, why doesn't the Vatican sell some of the stocks, bonds and securities it owns — as well as some of its shares in various holding companies and businesses — and direct the proceeds to archdioceses that need the money to keep schools and parishes open?
People without homes are not a morally monolithic groil of people. Ditto with those who beg. We ought to help those we can but that might mean in a particular case, not giving them money and helping them to find better ways of getting money. Some of those who beg are mentally ill and need care; others are drug addicts and need to get off drugs.
Like Joseph, I didn't learn a damn thing about the Catholic Church or Faith in Catholic schools. We held hands and sang, "Kumbaya". Later I read Aquinas and Augustine, Aristotle, Teresa, Therese, John of the Cross and many others to learn the truth. You can see why Josoeph is so angry — He was deprived of a real Catholic education and now he is shallow and emotional. I've so been there…
Vince, you don't know me well enough to say that I'm "shallow and emotional." Do you know why I left the Catholic Church?
First, its abolitionist views on capital punishment for murder are nothing but arbitrary revisionism (thank you, JPII) that rejects centuries of teaching from Scripture and Tradition:
Third, the bishops don't bother following their own Canon Law (see Cdl. Wuerl and Canon 915), and popes don't bother holding bishops accountable for disobeying Canon Law. Why does such an institution demand respect, let alone allegiance?
Fourth, can you say, "clerical sex-abuse crisis"? Can you also say, "St. Peter Damian" and "'The Book of Gomorrah'"? I knew you could…
Fifth, Jesus did not found the Catholic Church. In the 1880s, Pope Leo XIII had this terrifying vision of Satan talking to Jesus:
Satan: I can destroy the Catholic Church
Jesus: You can? Then go ahead.
Satan: I need time and I need power.
Jesus: How much time and how much power?
Satan: I need a century and the power to control those who will give themselves over to me.
Jesus: You have the time. You have the power. Do what you want.
Because of that vision, Pope Leo composed the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel. The whole scenario begs two questions:
1. If archangels are loyal subordinates of the Triune God, and one Person of that Triune God gives Satan permisssion to do anything, is an archangel seriously going to countermand that permission?
2. If those who “belong to Jesus” (for lack of a better phrase) receive the Father's protection according to John 10: 28-29….
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
…then why would Jesus give Satan permission to destroy the Catholic Church, especially if Jesus founded it and said He would protect it?
Either Jesus is lying or the Catholic Church is an apostate imitation of what He intended. No other conclusion is tenable.
You, Vince, have been seduced by Catholicism's intellectual facade, which hides the corruption, malfeasance and moral filth within.
The Catholic Church is nothing but a religious Mafia operated by and for the bishops and their clericalist sycophants. It long ago sacrificed its spiritual patrimony on the altar of wealth, power, prestige, secular influence, monarchistic trappings and institutional arrogance. It is ripe for judgement by a holy, righteous God…and that judgement will be severe, powerful and unrelenting.
April 25, 2013 at 3:38 am
Thank you.
April 25, 2013 at 4:04 am
Interesting!
According to a news article I found online, a man by this same name was one of three people represented in a lawsuit back in 2001 (I believe) in Chicago; the lawyer was suing the city for arresting peaceful panhandlers. The city tried to argue that the panhandlers had accosted people but had to back down when they didn't have evidence and nobody claimed they'd done anything more than this man does in the video; for the indignity of being arrested each of the homeless panhandlers got $500 from the city.
Also, though this video was made a year ago it has just gone viral, and users of the Reddit site have gone on a mission to find this guy and take care of him (job offer, etc.). That is *also* what Jesus looks like. Though the Lord wouldn't drop so many f-bombs (be warned, but this is still pretty amazing):
http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/1czu53/no_matter_what_people_think_about_me_i_know_im_a/
April 25, 2013 at 7:11 am
I can tell you what some people who "look like Jesus" do in my hometown:
1. They forced the closure of one of the city's two public libraries because they've used the grounds as a campsite.
2. Some use the bathrooms at the other public library to wash their naked torsos or defecate on the floor. One ate a raw can of Spam in front of a computer terminal. I witnessed these things myself and reported them to library authorities.
3. One group of professional panhandlers camps out near a Starbucks downtown. Know how I can tell they're not homeless? They have smart phones and laptops, which aren't cheap.
In Los Angeles, one panhandler attacked a man who refused to give him money and burned him to death:
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=9065403&rss=rss-kabc-article-9065403
I know there are legitimately homeless people out there who need help and support. Many of them are mentally ill. But many "homeless" people are nothing but lazy parasites with a sense of entitlement and no sense of consideration for society around them. They effectively steal from people who have difficulty paying their bills and feeding their families.
Unfortunately, the Catholic Church (as well as "progressive" politicians, academics and media members) promotes this guilt-induced sympathy as a means to empower itself. It always has. Like its liberal, secular counterparts, the Catholic Church doesn't give a damn about the poor! It doesn't view the poor as men and women created in God's image — an image that includes at least a modicum of intelligence and talent — but as puppy dogs who can do nothing for themselves and must be cared for 24/7.
Of course, some people are in such dire straits that they need such care — especially the elderly, whom the Church conveniently fails to defend with the same "vigor" (if you can call it that) as it "defends" the unborn. But not every poor or "homeless" person does.
While society must be accountable to the poor, the poor also must be accountable to society. Of course, this notion isn't "Catholic," so it will be rejected automatically by the self-benighted "compassionate" people.
April 25, 2013 at 7:39 am
Riddle me this, Catholics. If the Catholic Church cares so much about the poor and disadvantaged, then…
1. Why do so many prelates live in monarchistic comfort?
2. Why didn't those same prelates rush to help those victimized by sex abuse instead of hide behind expensive lawyers and PR firms?
3. Why hasn't the Vatican sold some of the stocks, bonds and securities it holds to help those dioceses and archdioceses that need help keeping schools and parishes open????
Clinton, would you like to comment on "apostasy" now?
April 25, 2013 at 11:45 am
Don't get gooey about the homeless. Check out your local police blotterand you will be shocked at home much rape, assault and murder is done by guys with no fixed address.
April 25, 2013 at 1:45 pm
Joseph, why don't YOU get off your lazy butt and do something about it yourself?
April 25, 2013 at 2:43 pm
Joseph my friend,
At the end of your life you aren't going to be judged by what the Church did or didn't do with regard to the poor (which is considerable, if you wish to look). As Saint John of the Cross said, you will be judged on your love (or your lack thereof).
April 25, 2013 at 4:10 pm
Joseph, if you think the homeless are a pain in the neck with their needy, intrusive, and unending demands, you should try Jesus.
April 25, 2013 at 5:05 pm
Wow. A video whose intent is to get us to see the humanity in the homeless, and half the initial response is to dehumanize them.
Being poor doesn't make you an angel. The poor are human beings, just as prone to sin as anyone else. But the poor suffer the consequences of a fallen world all the more acutely, so the call of Jesus is to bring them the spiritual and corporal acts of mercy all the more emphatically.
April 25, 2013 at 5:17 pm
Last month a 96 year old man in my town was beaten to death by a homeless woman who hung around the area. That poor man was trying to help her. Show mercy, yes, but don't be stupid. Don't get too close and if you give money do it in broad daylight in the middle of the street.
April 25, 2013 at 5:19 pm
No, Jesus doesn't look like that. Jesus looks like the Father. Jesus is what we could look like if we work hard at perfecting ourselves in cooperation with the Holy Spirit. This man looks like one of the poor, the sort of people we will always have with us, and the sort of people we do need to be charitable towards. They are part of the story, but they are not the story.
April 25, 2013 at 6:27 pm
To Vox Cantoris, Romulus, Wine in the Water and Anonymous:
1. Since when is discernment an exercise in cruelty?
2. Anonymous, since when does "love" disregard a reasonable demand for social accountability?
3. Did you know that John the Baptist was homeless, technically speaking? Did he behave in the ways I stated earlier?
4. For that matter, Romulus, did Jesus?
5. For that matter, do many poor people outside of the United States? I seriously doubt that.
6. Vox Cantoris, I choose to support persecuted Christians overseas, who have a far harder time than the homeless here. Why don't YOU get off YOUR lazy butt and do something about THAT?
7. If the Catholic Church truly gives a damn about the homeless, then why doesn't it imitate the Mormons with their Bishop's Storehouses (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop's_storehouse)?
Your responses confirm for me that Catholic "concern for the poor" is nothing but a cover for Catholic self-righteousness.
April 25, 2013 at 7:39 pm
Joseph,
I am not sure why you are so angry that you have to attack people/groups or be so judgmental. How many Catholics do you know? I would have to say you are the self-righteous one here my friend.
April 25, 2013 at 8:00 pm
It would appear, Joseph, that Catholics have by no means cornered the market on self-righteousness.
I don't like repeating myself but will say it again – if you can't see the Catholic Church as one of the few forces for good in helping the poor, you are willfully blind.
You appear to be very selective in the miseries that you would allow yourself to feel sympathy for, without really knowing any of these people personally. How sad. Christ didn't condone sin, but He met everyone "where they were" and made no demands for "social accountability", whatever that is. The people He reserved His greatest anger for were the Pharissees because they saw themselves as superior when in fact thay were greater sinners than those they condemned Do you notice any parallels?
I hope Christ meets you where you are. It seems an otherwise unhappy and friendless place.
April 25, 2013 at 8:31 pm
One final thought Joseph,
You ask: since when does "love" disregard a reasonable demand for social accountability?
A fair question. You may find the answer below. I don't see the word "demand" anywhere in it. I do, however, detect in your posts many of the things that love is not.
Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
April 25, 2013 at 9:30 pm
Vanessa, I was baptized as a Catholic, went to a Catholic high school, participated in my university's Newman Club and worshipped as a Catholic most of my life. I would say I know a lot more about Catholics and Catholicism than you could ever surmise.
Anonymous, the same God who inspired St. Paul to write what he did is the exact same God who demands accountability for human behavior. The Jesus who refused to condemn the woman caught in adultery by a lynch mob of Pharisees also told her to "go and sin no more." The Jesus who healed a paralytic at the pool in Bethesda also told him to "stop sinning or something worse will befall" him. Aren't those implicit demands for accountability? Do you seriously believe that either the paralytic or the adulteress were rich?
Moreover, since when is it "loving" to ignore deliberately occasions when homeless people violate accepted standards of social behavior, intimidate people for money or act as if they're not accountable. If the story about a man being burned alive in his SUV because he refused to give a panhandler money doesn't move you, then your "compassion" is based on materialism, not morality.
You think I mean that all homeless behave this way. Of course, they don't. I've met all sorts of homeless people in my life, from the mentally ill to families living from paycheck to paycheck, to those who will game the system for their own benefit.
…if you can't see the Catholic Church as one of the few forces for good in helping the poor, you are willfully blind.
How has the Catholic Church helped the poor to see themselves as people created in the image of a God who gave them talent, free will, intelligence and initiative? How has it helped the poor to develop their individual talents not only to benefit society but, also, themselves? How has it, by doing so, stimulated the confidence of such poor people?
Does the Catholic Church ever teach the poor how to fish, to paraphrase a well-known proverb?
April 26, 2013 at 12:09 am
Moreover, if the Catholic Church truly loves the poor, then…
1. Why didn't Mother Teresa use the millions that she raised on her worldwide travels to build a clinic that really treat people, instead of providing mere palative care?
2. As I asked earlier, why doesn't the Vatican sell some of the stocks, bonds and securities it owns — as well as some of its shares in various holding companies and businesses — and direct the proceeds to archdioceses that need the money to keep schools and parishes open?
April 26, 2013 at 1:27 am
People without homes are not a morally monolithic groil of people. Ditto with those who beg. We ought to help those we can but that might mean in a particular case, not giving them money and helping them to find better ways of getting money. Some of those who beg are mentally ill and need care; others are drug addicts and need to get off drugs.
April 26, 2013 at 4:17 pm
Like Joseph, I didn't learn a damn thing about the Catholic Church or Faith in Catholic schools. We held hands and sang, "Kumbaya". Later I read Aquinas and Augustine, Aristotle, Teresa, Therese, John of the Cross and many others to learn the truth. You can see why Josoeph is so angry — He was deprived of a real Catholic education and now he is shallow and emotional. I've so been there…
April 26, 2013 at 6:06 pm
Vince, you don't know me well enough to say that I'm "shallow and emotional." Do you know why I left the Catholic Church?
First, its abolitionist views on capital punishment for murder are nothing but arbitrary revisionism (thank you, JPII) that rejects centuries of teaching from Scripture and Tradition:
http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=1463
Second, Catholicism appeases Islam, which is nothing but religious Nazism that condones murder in Allah's name (why do you think Magdi Allam left):
http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=1463
http://www.webalice.it/3336183541/010805jp.htm
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/New-EFL/message/2208
Third, the bishops don't bother following their own Canon Law (see Cdl. Wuerl and Canon 915), and popes don't bother holding bishops accountable for disobeying Canon Law. Why does such an institution demand respect, let alone allegiance?
Fourth, can you say, "clerical sex-abuse crisis"? Can you also say, "St. Peter Damian" and "'The Book of Gomorrah'"? I knew you could…
Fifth, Jesus did not found the Catholic Church. In the 1880s, Pope Leo XIII had this terrifying vision of Satan talking to Jesus:
Satan: I can destroy the Catholic Church
Jesus: You can? Then go ahead.
Satan: I need time and I need power.
Jesus: How much time and how much power?
Satan: I need a century and the power to control those who will give themselves over to me.
Jesus: You have the time. You have the power. Do what you want.
Because of that vision, Pope Leo composed the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel. The whole scenario begs two questions:
1. If archangels are loyal subordinates of the Triune God, and one Person of that Triune God gives Satan permisssion to do anything, is an archangel seriously going to countermand that permission?
2. If those who “belong to Jesus” (for lack of a better phrase) receive the Father's protection according to John 10: 28-29….
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
…then why would Jesus give Satan permission to destroy the Catholic Church, especially if Jesus founded it and said He would protect it?
Either Jesus is lying or the Catholic Church is an apostate imitation of what He intended. No other conclusion is tenable.
You, Vince, have been seduced by Catholicism's intellectual facade, which hides the corruption, malfeasance and moral filth within.
The Catholic Church is nothing but a religious Mafia operated by and for the bishops and their clericalist sycophants. It long ago sacrificed its spiritual patrimony on the altar of wealth, power, prestige, secular influence, monarchistic trappings and institutional arrogance. It is ripe for judgement by a holy, righteous God…and that judgement will be severe, powerful and unrelenting.